Kate McKinnon’s 10 Funniest SNL characters

New Saturday Night Live cast members often struggle to make an impression. But not Kate McKinnon. She’s been the MVP of SNL since, well, pretty much her first episode, and never looked back. In four short years she’s gone from an unknown, first plying her wares for Logo’s The Big Gay Sketch Show, to a Ghostbuster. She’s been nominated for three Emmys, and will be cohosting the 2016 Spirit Awards with Kumail Nanjiani on Feb. 27th at 5P ET on IFC. To get you ready for Kate’s big cohosting gig, here are ten of her most drop dead funny SNL characters . Watch these, and tell us she isn’t the next big thing in comedy.

10. Hillary Clinton

McKinnon isn’t the first comedian to play Hillary Clinton, and if things work out for the former First Lady this November, she won’t be the last. But her spin on the Democratic frontrunner, who doesn’t understand why the people won’t just let her lead, is so spot on, even Hillary had to stop by and give her a scalding hot vodka along with some props.

9. Alien Abductee

For a recent sketch, this character is already approaching cult status. Playing a poor woman snatched by a bunch of aliens with some odd fetishes, McKinnon nailed it so hard, host Ryan Gosling could barely get through the sketch. Here’s hoping this high-waisted chain smoker gets to see God next time, and not just be dumped on the roof of a Long John Silver’s with her coot coot and prune shoot hanging out.

8. Justin Bieber

Listen girl, don’t nobody tell us that McKinnon doesn’t own this Justin Bieber impression. Playing the Biebs as a cocky little twerp who loves to seduce the ladies between naps, she nailed the King Joffrey of pop music so hard, he had to go on a year long apology tour.

7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

McKinnon’s impression of Ginsburg paints the 82-year-old Supreme Court Justice as the Queen of Insult Comedy. Nobody’s safe, from the state of Kentucky to that the late Justice Scalia, when the “Gins-Burns”start up. Thankfully, when the Grim Reaper came for young Ruth, she punched his lights out and stole his robe, so she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

6. Sheila Sovage

It doesn’t get much darker than poor Sheila, who turns last call into a playground of regret. McKinnon told Seth Meyers that she and the hosts often share a silent moment of reflection after these sketches, knowing they shared something truly horrible. If ever you need a definition of going for it in comedy, look no further than this nightmare of tongues and hairlines.

5. Ellen DeGeneres

McKinnon is a master mimic. Just look at her impression of Ellen, which can be hard to tell from the real thing. Somehow, SNL‘s take on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, full of vanilla rap songs and puppy dog writers, is spot on, and yet oddly more entertaining.

4. Penelope Cruz

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Kate came out swinging in her very first episode of SNL, when she played Penelope Cruz as a shampoo pitch person in way over her head. Her ability to turn nonsense words into laughs, while still nailing a pitch perfect impression, announced that the next big SNL star had arrived.

3. Mrs. Santini

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And then there’s Mrs. Santini, “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost’s nosy neighbor. Just because she can’t stand the other tenants in her building doesn’t mean she has to be rude about it. A nice note will always make your point, whether you’re thanking the “elephant family” upstairs, or the parents who apparently gave birth to a car alarm.

2. Olya Povlatsky

Oh poor Olya, the Russian villager who wakes up crying and can’t throw herself into the sea because the line is too long. McKinnon has a rare ability to turn the desperate and intense into comedic gold, notably with her impressions of Hillary Clinton, and Angela Merkel. But no one is more desperate than poor Olya, who knows just what song she wants played at her funeral — “At Last.”

1. German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Another in McKinnon’s series of sad sacks in pantsuits, poor Angela would have the world by the string, if it weren’t for all those moron Heads of State. Why do they always seem to be having so much more fun than she is? McKinnon’s brilliance is in finding the perfect angle for a character, allowing a bland German bureaucrat to become a deeply sympathetic gal who loves her some Nickelback and just wants to Google “Jason Segel shirtless” in peace.

Check out Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani proving they’re the best team to host the 2016 Spirit Awards.

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Make The Holidays ’80s Again

Enjoy the holiday cheer Wednesday December 21 at 10P on IFC.

Posted by Ben Cochran on November 30thPhoto Credit: Everett Collection

Whatever happened to the kind of crazy-yet-cozy holiday specials that blanketed the early winter airwaves of the 1980s? Unceremoniously killed by infectious ’90s jadedness? Slow fade out at the hands of early-onset millennial ennui? Whatever the reason, nixing the tradition was a huge mistake.

A huge mistake that we’re about to fix.

Announcing IFC’s Joe’s Pub Presents: A Holiday Special, starring Tony Hale. It’s a celeb-studded extravaganza in the glorious tradition of yesteryear featuring Bridget Everett, Jo Firestone, Nick Thune, Jen Kirkman, house band The Dap-Kings, and many more. And it’s at Joe’s Pub, everyone’s favorite home away from home in the Big Apple.

The yuletide cheer explodes Wednesday December 21 at 10P. But if you were born after 1989 and have no idea what void this spectacular special is going to fill, sample from this vintage selection of holiday hits:

Andy Williams and The NBC Kids Search For Santa

The quintessential holiday special. Get snuggly and turn off your brain. You won’t need it.

A Muppet Family Christmas

The Fraggles. The Muppets. The Sesame Street gang. Fate. The Jim Henson multiverse merges in this warm and fuzzy Holiday gathering.

Julie Andrews: The Sound Of Christmas

To this day a foolproof antidote to holiday cynicism. It’s cheesy, but a good cheese. In this case an Alpine Gruyère.

Star Wars Holiday Special

Okay, busted. This one was released in 1978. Still totally ’80s though. And yes that’s Bea Arthur.

Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

Pass the eggnog, and make sure it’s loaded. This special is everything you’d expect it to be and much, much more.

Joe’s Pub Presents: A Holiday Special premieres Wednesday December 21 at 10P on IFC.

A Guide to Coping with the End of Comedy Bang! Bang!

After five seasons and 110 halved-hour episodes, Scott Aukerman’s hipster comedy opus, Comedy Bang! Bang!, has come to an end. Fridays at 11 and 11:30P will never be the same. We know it can be hard for fans to adjust after the series finale of their favorite TV show. That’s why we’ve prepared this step-by-step guide to managing your grief.

Step One: Cry it out

It’s just natural. We’re sad too.

Step Two: Read the CB!B! IMDB Trivia Page

The show is over and it feels like you’ve lost a friend. But how well did you really know this friend? Head over to Comedy Bang! Bang!’s IMDB page to find out some things you may not have known…like that it’s “based on a Civil War battle of the same name” or that “Reggie Watts was actually born with the name Theodore Leopold The Third.”

Step Three: Listen to the podcast

One fascinating piece of CB!B! trivia that you might not learn from IMDB is that there’s a podcast that shares the same name as the TV show. It’s even hosted by Scott Aukerman! It’s not exactly like watching the TV show on a Friday night, but that’s only because each episode is released Monday morning. If you close your eyes, the podcast is just like watching the show with your eyes closed!

Step Four: Watch brand new CB!B! clips?!

The best way to cope with the end of Comedy Bang! Bang! is to completely ignore that it’s over — because it’s not. In an unprecedented move, IFC is opening up the bonus CB!B! content vault. There are four brand new, never-before-seen sketches featuring Scott Aukerman, Kid Cudi, and “Weird Al” Yankovic ready for you to view on the IFC App. There’s also one right here, below this paragraph! Watch all four b-b-bonus clips and feel better.

Binge the entire final season, plus exclusive sketches, right now on the IFC app.

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The Four-Day Sweatsgiving Weekend On IFC

This long holiday weekend is your time to gobble gobble gobble and give heartfelt thanks—thanks for the comfort and forgiveness of sweatpants. Because when it comes right down to it, there’s nothing more wholesome and American than stuffing yourself stupid and spending endless hours in front of the TV in your softest of softests.

So get the sweats, grab the remote and join IFC for four perfect days of entertainment.

It all starts with a 24-hour T-day marathon of Rocky Horror Picture Show, then continues Friday with an all-day binge of Stan Against Evil.

By Saturday, the couch will have molded to your shape. Which is good, because you’ll be nestled in for back-to-back Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.

Finally, come Sunday it’s time to put the sweat back in your sweatpants with The Shining, The Exorcist, The Chronicles of Riddick, Terminator 2, and Blade: Trinity. They totally count as cardio.

As if you need more convincing, here’s Martha Wash and the IFC&C Music Factory to hammer the point home.